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Football

31st Mar 2018

‘Ronaldinho could do little with this team’ – Xherdan Shaqiri rips Stoke City

Jack O'Toole

Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri has lamented the lack of quality around him at Stoke City as the Potters look to avoid Premier League relegation.

Paul Lambert’s side currently sit in 19th position on the league table with just six wins from 31 games this season.

Shaqiri has scored seven goals in the league campaign but has said that not even formerr Ballon d’Or winner and Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldinho could do much with this side.

“The feeling that even a Ronaldinho could do little in this team is sobering,” Shaqiri told Swiss media, via The Stoke Sentinel.

“I had to realise that it’s a bit different when you have players like Ribéry and Thiago at Bayern or Icardi and Kovacic at Inter.

“Here at Stoke I can not exert too much influence, simply because there is a lack of quality around me.

“I can not just Löffel verwerfen (down tools) but it would take something extreme for Stoke in the transfer market this summer to revive my enthusiasm.”

Shaqiri moved to Stoke in 2015 after half a season with Inter Milan, which was preceded by three years at Bayern Munich.

The 26-year-old won two Bundesliga titles and a Champions League medal during his time at Munich and it certainly looks as if he will not be hanging around to play Championship football next season if Stoke are unable to avoid relegation.

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